Free Falling
by LoriDeux
Summary: He's always kind of been there, but they're both five (almost six) years old when she decides she really likes Danny Desai. Not in the "like" like kind of way, of course, but in the "I like you even though you have boy cooties" kind of way. /./ Nobody told Jo Masterson growing up would be quite so strange. Danny/Jo.


_And all the bad boys _

_Are standing in the shadows_

_And the good girls _

_Are home with broken hearts_

_-.-.-.-_

He's always kind of been there, but they're both five (almost six) years old when she decides she really likes Danny Desai.

Not in the "_like"_ like kind of way, of course, but in the "_I like you even though you have boy cooties"_ kind of way.

Sure, he talks about Power Rangers way too much and she _did_ have to cut her hair when he got a batch of glue on it the Halloween he convinced her to test the "spider web" he "invented" (mainly consisting of a bottle of Krazy Glue he found in his mother's desk) for his Spiderman costume, but he's also the only boy who goes to every single one of her tea parties, and he lets her have his slice of brownie when her mom tells her she's been eating too many sweets lately.

Plus, she thinks his mom looks and acts _just_ like a princess, and that maybe if she's lucky and nice enough, Mrs. Desai might teach her how to be one, too.

-.-

She's seven years old the first time she watches Sleeping Beauty.

They were supposed to have gone to the zoo, but their telephone had rung just as her mom was double checking her pink coat was buttoned up and her hat was covering her ears correctly. She remembers hearing her dad promising to 'be there in ten' just as much as she remembers hearing her parents yelling for six of those ten minutes and walking in to her mother crying after Chief Masterson pulled out of the driveway.

Her mother had looked up at her, quickly trying to hide the same sad expression that always left Jo feeling confused. She knew there was something she was missing, something her innocent heart wasn't able to understand quite yet, regardless of how hard she wanted to see her mommy smile.

She didn't know she'd wear that same look one day.

(Jo thinks that maybe her mother did.)

Because instead of sending her off to watch cartoons in her room like she usually did, Tess had taken her tiny hand in hers and flashed her a smile, leading them out the door. Together, they'd strolled down to the main square in Green Grove, drinking hot chocolate from a local vendor and stuffing themselves with chocolate-chip cookies that were still warm from the oven.

For once, her mother didn't object when she pulled her into Blockbuster and ran straight for the Kid's section, picking out the first movie with a princess wearing a tiara her trained eyes could find.

And then they were home, curled up on the sofa watching as Prince Phillip swore to give up his kingdom and battled the evil Maleficient, all to save the beautiful princess Aurora.

She gets to go play with Danny the next day, and as she tells him all about her new favorite movie, she notices that he kind of acts like a prince, too.

That's when she decides she's going to marry him someday.

-.-

They meet Lacey exactly nine days later.

-.-

She's a very strange girl.

Whereas Jo is loud and independent (and complete convinced she's a princess), Lacey is quiet and shy. She barely talks to her and she refuses to stop wearing boy's clothes, even after Jo tells her that she has to dress up for her tea party. But, she's really smart and knows a lot of jokes, even if she only tells them after she's eaten a lot of candy.

Her dad is pretty nice and they have the _best_ birthday parties.

Plus, her parents are always fighting. Like, _always_.

Jo knows how that feels; knows what it's like to hear your daddy yell and see your mommy cry, just as much as she knows what it's like to want to hide (in the middle of the woods) until a pretty distraction steals away your distraction and all that's left are things that are fun and/or shiny.

She thinks it's okay that Lacey gets mad when she holds her hand sometimes, even if she really doesn't want to.

And Danny likes her.

So Jo tries very hard to like her, too.

(she doesn't have to try too much)

-.-

Jo's nine years old the first (and only) time a boy tells her she looks like a beautiful princess.

It's almost Halloween, and her mom had finally finished making her costume after Jo had refused to wear the Princess Aurora version sold in stores, filled with complaints of how it wasn't good enough.

But this, _this_ was perfect.

An almost identical replica that made Jo feel like all her dreams could come true if she swore to never take the dress and crown off again.

A chance to be a real princess.

Until she'd spilled grape juice on it.

"It's okay," he'd said then, holding onto her hand and squeezing her fingers in platonic reassurance. "You still look like a princess."

It doesn't even matter that she knows _he_ didn't mean it _that_ way.

She's eleven when Danny walks out of his house with the red jump rope clutched in his hold.

She's a few minutes older when she follows Lacey up the stairs to discover what he's going on about.

Twenty minutes later she remembers that a real princess never follows anyone anywhere.

Jo's (almost) twelve when she stops being able to sleep without seeing Tara Desai's dead stare every time she closes her lids.

It's also about the same time she stops seeing Danny.

Her parents are always quiet now. Lacey's always quiet now. Danny's parents are never at any of the parties they all used to go to.

Everything is quiet, except her.

(Suddenly, being Sleeping Beauty doesn't seem that appealing anymore.)

She's thirteen when Lacey pushes her into being an outsider (freak).

Um, sorry. She means, when Lacey gets her uninvited from a party. She doesn't know why or what happened to bring on the betrayal, but she does know that it _hurts_.

They were supposed to stick together.

Fourteen when she meets Rico.

(because he's _so_ good for her that she thinks that maybe there _is_ a God.)

And fifteen when she gets to start really sleeping again.

(it has to have been all the therapy).

Sixteen when she stops.

(apparently not).

Jo opens her eyes her eyes one morning and, _just_ like that, he's back.

-.-.-

**AN: So, this isn't done quite yet. **

**Trying my hand at the Twisted fandom, review and let me know what you think so far!**

**-Lori **


End file.
